[blindlaw] Oral advocacy

[Frye, Dan]

Unless you are physically unable to learn Braille, I'd make a point of
mastering the code. It was invaluable to me while in law school and has
been beneficial throughout my career. Your inquiry alone suggests its
significance. Your question is comparable to asking how do I read or
reference print notes without knowing how to read. Of course, I don't
know all of your circumstances (whether you've been recently blinded or
cannot read Braille for some other reason), but learning this
skill--even if you are at first slow--will be your best option.
Otherwise, it comes down to cultivating a good memory. I know totally
blind attorneys who manage to rely on an incredible memory, but they are
few and far between. Most who try to use memory suffer from reluctance
to engage in public speaking and limit their practice to research,
avoiding litigation and other examples of public advocacy. Use of other
devices like talking computers or note takers with ear phones render the
speaker awkward appearing and halting.

Good luck.

With Kind Regards,

Dan Frye     

-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of E.J. Zufelt
Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2007 12:02 PM
To: NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List
Subject: [blindlaw] Oral advocacy

Good afternoon,

I am a first year law student and next term will be doing a moot as part
of my Oral Advocacy course.  I am completely blind, but don't know
braille.

Can anyone tell me what techniques they use to prepare and present an
oral argument, without the use of braille?

Thank you,
Everett